Writing is writing whether done for duty, profit, or fun.

And Even More About Comic Books

Posted on March 10, 2014

I mentioned—ad nauseam, I’m sure—my return to reading/collecting comic books. This is after a fourteen-year hiatus. This is after meeting girls and learning how to talk to them. This is after sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Comic book reading is, after all, my first love. My first plunge into literary works. Literary works, yeah. I don’t care much for the smug academia that disregards Watchmen as a literary work because it’s a graphic novel.
Since I started, I managed collect thirteen titles. They include: Harley Quinn (DC/the New 52), Magento (Marvel Now), Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Now), Dexter Down Under (Marvel), Batman: The Joker’s Daughter (DC/the New 52), Evil Empire (Boom!), Moon Knight (Marvel Now), Revenge (Image), Veil (Dark Horse), Justice League 3000 (DC/the New 52), Auteur (Oni), Empire of the Dead (Marvel), and Night of the Living Deadpool (Marvel). Most of these are either new series, one-shots, stand-alone story arcs, or rebooted series. I find it easier to start off from scratch than it is to play catch-up with ongoing story lines. It’s also easier to weed out what isn’t going to work for me.
I took an interest to Harley Quinn, for obvious reasons. Because she’s the Clown Prince of Crime’s girlfriend. Though, she’s his ex now. And after the abysmal final season of Dexter turned me on to the comic heralded by his creator, Jeff Lindsay. The Joker’s Daughter, well, need I explain? George A. Romero’s Empire of the Dead takes place in the same realm of his movies (vampires added for garnish, I’m sure). I picked up Justice League 3000 for nostalgic reasons. It reminded me of the Marvel 2099 series. However, this book fell short of my expectations. Same goes for Auteur, though I’m still on the fence about what I expected from it. The artwork is reminiscent of the Adult Swim series, Super Jail. Moon Knight captured my attention. Magneto reintroduced me to my childhood. Although, I’m still having troubled accepting the bald super-villain-turned-antihero-turned-whatever-he-is-these-days.
However, this revisited venture is costing me money (who would have figured?). My last visit to Myth Adventures cost me $42; I purchased seven titles plus a storage box that cost me $8. The storage box, by the way, was a scam as I see no difference between the one I have and a regular white box. Well, outside of the aesthetic realm, anyway. I discovered Midtown Comics online. I ordered the first three issues of Night of the Living Deadpool from them (revising the first issue for the 1st printing). I learned after the fact that they have questionable shipping practices. I’ll cross my fingers in hopes that my comics come unbent. Along side them, I also found Heavy Ink (thank you online forums!). I subscribed to Harley Quinn and purchased the first four issues of Sex Criminals (Image) and Batman #28 (DC/the New 52). I hope their shipping practices are better. We’ll soon see.
I also have to learn how to bag and board my comics. I noticed some nicks on my Harley Quinn issues. I will have to replace them because my OCD won’t let it rest.